Parliament, for stopping the port and blocking up the harbor of Boston, for altering the charter and government of Massachusetts Bay, and that which is entitled, An act for the better administration of justice,' etc.

"Also the act, passed at the same session, for establishing the Roman Catholic religion in the province of Quebec, abolishing the equitable system of English laws, and erecting a tyranny there, to the great danger (from so total a dissimilarity of religion, law, and government) of the neighboring British colonies, by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country was conquered from France.

"Also the act, passed at the same session, for the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his majesty's service in North-America.

"Also that the keeping a standing army in several of these colonies, in time of peace, without the consent of the legislature of that colony in which such army is kept, is against law.

"To these grievous acts and measures Americans can not submit; but in hopes their fellow-subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have, for the present, only resolved to pursue the following peaceable mea

sures:

"I. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association. "2. To prepare an address to the people of Great

Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America.

"3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty agreeably to the resolutions already entered into."

In this declaration, and in these resolves, we have the swelling germs of the Declaration of Independence. They show the temper and spirit of those high-toned and bold men who led the way to freedom and independence. The committee who presented them were among the most active and fearless men of the Revolution. They were RICHARD HENRY LEE, of Virginia; JOHN ADAMS, of Massachusetts; WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSTON, of Connecticut; PATRICK HENRY, of Virginia; and EDWARD RUTLEDGE, of South-Carolina. Congress followed their lead, and the country went with them.

The Congress of 1775, which met at the State House in Philadelphia, on the 10th of May, was equally firm in resisting the oppressive acts of the British government, and bold in the assertion of the rights of the colonies. Blood had been shed at Lexington on the 19th of the April previous, and the spirit of liberty and independence aroused the patriotism of the land. Bold and fearless resolves were passed by Congress, and their substance reiterated in every city and hamlet in the colonies. Congress commenced to prepare for resisting British power at every hazard. Paine's work, Common Sense, the master production of the times, rung its clarion notes in favor of liberty and independence in every

ear, spurring on the bold, rousing the indifferent, and awakening the sluggard. It excited the sympathies of the liberal-minded everywhere, and it was said "that it severed the last link of the chain that bound the colonies to the mother country."

Congress recommended the colonies to form State governments which would be conducive to the safety and happiness of the people in each, and tend to the security of the whole. They provided for raising and equipping armies, and preparing them for the field. The battle of Lexington, in the minds of the more thoughtful men, had rendered reconciliation and harmony impossible. Acts of wrong, oppression, and tyranny followed with increased frequency and intensity. The wanton insolence and violence of her military increased, and exasperated the people beyond human endurance.

Great Britain made taunting displays of her power, and manifested a determination to crush out the growing spirit of liberty in the colonies. This aroused the energies of the latter to the point of bidding her defiance. They preferred the chances of death in asserting liberty, to a certainty of life with slavery.

Congress manifested its wisdom and prudence in embodying the causes of their complaints, and enumerating their unendurable grievances against Great Britain, and the reasons for separation from her, in a form calculated to attract the attention and command the respect of the enlightened men of the age,

and meet the approbation of future generations. To secure this object, on the 11th of June, 1776, Congress appointed a committee, consisting of THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia; JOHN ADAMS, of Massachusetts; BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, of Pennsylvania; ROGER SHERMAN, of Connecticut; and ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, of New-York, to prepare the necessary declaration. This was drafted by Mr. JEFFERSON, and presented on the 28th of June, 1776. On the 4th of July, a day ever memorable in the annals of America, this glorious document was adopted by Congress, and finally separated the colonies from Great Britain. It received the signatures of a band of fearless and true-hearted patriots, who staked their lives and fortunes upon the result. Their names should be recorded in letters of gold. They are: